Edward "Ned" Lyons was a New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 gangster

Gangster

A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Some gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from mob and the suffix -ster....

 in the 19th century. A burglar, he learned his trade in the property market around South Windham, Connecticut

South Windham, Connecticut

South Windham is a census-designated place in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. It is located within the town of Windham, Connecticut. The population was 1,278 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...

. From there, he quickly became a notorious hustler and conman

Confidence trick

A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence. A confidence artist is an individual working alone or in concert with others who exploits characteristics of the human psyche such as dishonesty and honesty, vanity, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility,...

.

Ned learned to understand how people think and react, and although impaired by extreme near-sightedness, he was capable of quickly identifying liars, earning himself a high powered position among the gangs of New York. Physically, he had a strikingly large head.

Further reading

• Asbury, Henry. The French Quarter: An Informal History of the New Orleans Underworld. New York: Alfred A. Knoff, 1936. ISBN 1-56025-494-7

External links

• Heliotype, showing Lyons in state
• The Willimantic Chronicle - Year of 1884, imprisoned at Springfield